Join Dedman's “I ❤️ SMU” Challenge with a gift of any size today. Your donation will fuel important initiatives this spring and help SMU reach its goal of 1,000 alumni donors by February 13. The SMU Fund for Dedman College is important because it provides a strong foundation for discovery, research and achievement. Please watch the video below to learn about our priorities, and how your gifts make a real impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw--9_cNJk0&feature=youtu.be Your gift to Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences enables us to continue important research and provide scholarships and fellowships to students. In essence, your support helps Dedman College shape world changers every day. Please make your gift to Dedman today.

Texas Monthly Originally Posted: February 2018 A Tale of Two Texas Families New books from Roger D. Hodge and Bryan Mealer draw an unsparing portrait of rural Texas. Families are the bedrock of Texas settlement. Take, for instance, the Old Three Hundred, the first white migrants who came to Texas from the American South in the 1820s, lured by the colonization schemes of Moses and Stephen F. Austin; nearly two centuries later, their descendants meet twice a year to celebrate this shared history. Likewise, many Texans of more recent vintage engage in one-upmanship over the depth of their roots in the Lone Star State, all in a quest to bind themselves as tightly as possible to the land and its myths. Journalists Roger D. Hodge [...]

FOX 4 Originally Posted: January 23, 2018 Professor Jeffrey Engel, director of SMU’s Center for Presidential History, discusses the current temporary end of the federal government shutdown and President Trump’s tactics in helping bring that about by Congress. WATCH

Each Spring, members of the SMU community are invited to nominate students (as well as faculty and staff for the "M" Award - see below) deserving of recognition for the awards noted below. The award recipients are announced at the Hilltop Excellence Awards, held annually on the third Monday of April, and coinciding with the Honors Day Convocation. WHEN: January 18 – February 19, 2018 TIME: 8:30 am – 7:00 am WHERE: https://connect.smu.edu/submitter/form/start/145850 DETAILS: Nominate a deserving student, staff or faculty member for a Hilltop Excellence Award! Deadline is 7:00 am, February 19th. MORE INFO: Lydia Dale, ldale@smu.edu WEBSITE: https://www.smu.edu/StudentAffairs/StudentLife/Awards SPONSORED BY: Student Activities

SMU News Originally Posted: January 8, 2018 Longtime SMU supporter Rita Clements, former Texas First Lady, civic leader and political activist, has died after a long illness. Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas. "Rita Clements’ passion for education was clear to everyone who knew her," said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. "Our University was fortunate to benefit from that passion over the many years that she and Governor Clements, who was an SMU alumnus, generously shared their time and resources with us. It’s only part of her legacy, but the beautiful campus of SMU-in-Taos and the programs it provides for faculty and students will always be a tribute to that generosity. We [...]

NY Times Originally Posted: Jan. 1, 2018 FOR TRUMP, A YEAR OF REINVENTING THE PRESIDENCY In ways that were once unimaginable, President Trump has discarded the conventions and norms established by his predecessors. Will that change the institution permanently? WASHINGTON — When President Trump meets with aides to discuss policy or prepare for a speech, he may ask about the pros and cons of a new proposal. He may inquire about its possible effect. He may explore the best way to frame his case. But there is one thing he almost never does. “He very seldom asks how other presidents did this,” said John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff. Mr. Trump is the 45th president of the United States, but he has spent much of his first [...]

Artsy Originally Posted: December 28, 2017 Certain things happen, like clockwork, at the stroke of midnight every New Year’s Eve. Noisemakers blare; your glitter-coated party hat begins to shed; and an 11,875-pound ball covered in 2,688 Waterford Crystals descends down a flagpole in the middle of New York’s Times Square. While the crystals are a relatively new addition, the ball’s relationship with time goes way back. In 1829, a British Royal Navy captain named Robert Wauchope created “time balls” to help ship captains keep more precise time. Located near harbors, these balls—initially red and made of leather and wood—would be lowered each day at 1 p.m. (or earlier, at noon, in the United States, where the first time ball appeared in 1845). Thus, sailors had [...]